
Simon Courchel performing in “The People to Come” at SPACE Gallery, photo by Nat May
768 responses. 529 people. 50 dances. These are the contributions to – and endless possibilities for – The People to Come, a participatory performance project making its New York debut at the Invisible Dog Art Center on June 25th.
Conceived and directed by Yanira Castro, founder of a canary torsi, The People to Come is a participatory performance installation that invites audience members to become part of the work unfolding before them. This multilayered project encompasses an interactive website, a physical archive at The Invisible Dog featuring more than 700 submissions from last year, and live performances where dancers and musicians create work in front of the audience.
Over the course of four hours each evening of the run, five dancers will spontaneously create nineteen-minute solos drawing from visuals, videos, and text submitted by the audience to The People to Come’s website and on-site archive (Submissions can be made at any time on the project’s website). Each solo is a live composite, a portrait of the performer at work, influenced by the attending audience.
Performances of The People to Come will be June 25th to 29th from 6 to 10pm. $10 suggested donation at the door, and the audience is welcome to come and go throughout the performances. The on-site archive will be open daily from 1pm to 10pm. The Invisible Dog Art Center is located at 51 Bergen Street in Brooklyn.

Peter Schmitz and Peter Musante in the world premiere of “The People to Come” at The Granoff Center, photo by Simon Courchel